England will face Wales, Tonga and Zimbabwe in the pool stages of the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
England were top-seeded in Pool F as the top three teams in the competition, but Ireland, coached by Andy Farrell, drew with Scotland for the third straight World Cup, with Uruguay and Portugal finishing Pool D.
The other headline group is Pool A, with Australia taking on New Zealand, Chile and Hong Kong.
As hosts, Australia were always guaranteed a place in Pool A, but being in band two set up a blockbuster showdown with the All Blacks.
Defending champions South Africa, aiming for their third consecutive World Cup title, are in Pool B along with Italy, Georgia and Romania.
Pool A: New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Hong Kong Pool B: South Africa, Italy, Georgia, Romania Pool C: Argentina, Fiji, Spain, Canada Pool D: Ireland, Scotland, Uruguay, Portugal Pool E: France, Japan, USA, Samoa Pool F: England, Wales, Tonga, Zimbabwe
The Rugby World Cup will be held in Australia, with teams seeded from 1 to 24 based on their world rankings at the time of the draw, and then divided into six pools of four teams each.
England were placed in Band 1 along with South Africa, New Zealand, Ireland, France and Argentina. Australia is in Band 2, along with Fiji, Scotland, Italy, Wales and Japan. Band 3 consisted of Georgia, Uruguay, Spain, the United States, Chile, and Tonga, and Band 4 consisted of Samoa, Portugal, Romania, Hong Kong, Zimbabwe, and Canada.
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Check out the highlights of the 2027 Rugby World Cup draw. England and Wales were drawn in Pool F, with Ireland and Scotland tied for a third consecutive World Cup appearance.
What is the World Cup format?
The simple part of the format is that the top two teams from each pool advance to the final 16. These teams will be joined by the top four countries in third place.
The top teams from pools A, B, C, and D will then play against the third-place team. The winners of Pools E and F will play the second place teams from Pools D and B. The 2nd place teams in Pools A and C will play the 2nd place teams in Pools E and F.
The tournament will be held in Australia from October 1st to November 13th, 2027.
“A draw in England’s favor”
Michael Cantillon of Sky Sports:
“Overall, the draw for England is very positive.
“Drawing Wales into their own pool may make headlines, but they avoided teams like hosts Australia and Scotland in the same group.
“England also advanced to one of the most desired pools in E or F. The reason for this is that the winners of these two pools avoid the other pool winners until the semi-finals. The other pool winners could face another winner in the quarter-finals. Another lucky player in this respect was France.”
“If South Africa, New Zealand and France advance through their pools, they will be on opposite sides of the draw until the final, so there will be even more good news for England if they top their pools.
“One thing to note is that England’s quarter-final is scheduled to be against the second-placed team in their pool, but as this is a Pool A match, it is likely to be hosted by Australia. Borthwick’s side are a stronger team than the Wallabies, but their home advantage could be huge.”
Townsend: ‘Scotland must beat Ireland before the World Cup’
Gregor Townsend has challenged Scotland to banish the Irish villain ahead of their 2027 World Cup showdown.
Scotland have lost their last 11 meetings with Ireland, their last win coming in the 2017 Six Nations, just months before Townsend took over.
With the winner of Pool D, which also includes heavyweights from Uruguay and Portugal, likely to avoid a formidable Round of 16 clash with France, the Scotland head coach knows it is important to ensure his side reach a level where they feel ready to surpass Ireland when they face Down Under.
Townsend reflected on the draw at a press conference in Edinburgh, saying: “If we can win the pool, it will make the road to the quarter-finals and semi-finals easier.”
“We will respect all three teams we play, but obviously Ireland are a team that has beaten us quite often over the last few years, so we have to be better to beat them.
Scotland have never beaten Ireland, coached by Gregor Townsend, and have lost 11 consecutive Tests.
“We have two opportunities before the World Cup, one in Dublin and the other at Murrayfield. “The aim every year is to beat Ireland and the other teams in the Six Nations, but now it’s even more important.
“If we can do well for the change, it will help a lot, we know how difficult it is.
“The final game of the (Six Nations) Championship against Dublin will be a very difficult game, but we played really well the last time we played there (in 2024) and we will do our best to win that game.”
“If we can’t beat Ireland in the next two seasons, it will be even more difficult for us to qualify for the World Cup.”
Ireland manager Andy Farrell claimed the draw made him excited ahead of the tournament.
He told a press conference: “You could have bet on it being Scotland, right? It’s a great game, they know each other very well.
Andy Farrell’s Ireland will face Scotland in the World Cup pool stage for the third time after 2019 and 2023.
“I was actually very excited. The old hairs on my skin were standing up, which is how it’s supposed to be.”
“I support myself and all the other coaches and players to go as far as we expect. We have the ambition to win the World Cup, otherwise what’s the point?”
